A 38-year-old South African woman, Will Jessica Ann, has been convicted and sentenced to a total of 40 years in jail for importing 5.75 kilograms of heroin into Nigeria.
She was sentenced to 15 years on one count and 25 years on a second count, although both sentences will run concurrently.
This is contained in a statement signed by the Director, Media and Advocacy of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, Femi Babafemi.
Will Jessica Ann was arrested by operatives of the NDLEA at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, after she was found to have concealed 14 large blocks of heroin weighing 5.75 kilograms in her luggage, allegedly using her three-year-old son as a cover to beat security checks and evade thorough screening.
During the inward clearance of passengers on Qatar Airways flight QR 1433 from Doha to Abuja on Monday, July 6, 2026, NDLEA officers uncovered the drugs.
According to the Agency, she initially denied travelling with checked-in bags, but operatives established that the two bags containing the drugs had tags which tallied with the claim tags attached to her passport.
She subsequently admitted ownership of the bags, saying she had forgotten that she checked in the two bags.
She claimed to have travelled from Cambodia through Doha to Abuja.
The NDLEA says intelligence leading to her arrest indicates that she is a member of a transnational drug trafficking organisation along with her husband and partner, Jan Coenraad De Jager, based in Cambodia, from where they allegedly operate their drug network along the Cambodian-South African axis.
Her husband was also arrested in Johannesburg, South Africa, on July 27, 2026, while allegedly attempting to traffic 3.2 kilograms of illicit drugs to Hong Kong.
Will Jessica Ann was subsequently arraigned on a two-count charge in suit FHC/ABJ/CR/422/2026, bordering on the importation of 5.75 kilograms of heroin and conspiracy to import 5.75 kilograms of heroin into Nigeria.
She pleaded guilty to both charges before Justice Obiora Atuegwu Egwuatu of the Federal High Court, Abuja.
Delivering judgment on Thursday, September 17, 2026, Justice Egwuatu convicted and sentenced her to 15 years in jail on count one and 25 years on count two, bringing the total sentence imposed on both counts to 40 years.
The sentences will, however, run concurrently.
Reacting to the conviction, Chairman of the NDLEA, retired Brigadier General Buba Marwa described the judgment as a firm demonstration of the resolve of the Nigerian judiciary to support the Agency’s war against drug trafficking and a strong deterrent to transnational drug cartels seeking to use Nigeria as a transit or destination point for hard drugs.
Marwa said the case reinforces the Agency’s long-standing position that Nigeria will not serve as a soft landing for international drug cartels.
He said the arrest of the convict’s husband in South Africa barely three weeks later, while allegedly attempting a separate trafficking operation to Hong Kong, is evidence of the strength of intelligence-sharing and collaboration between the NDLEA and its international partners.
The NDLEA Chairman also said the swift dispensation of justice in the case, from arrest to conviction, reflects the effectiveness of the Agency’s operations and its close working relationship with the Federal High Court.
He warned that the NDLEA will continue to strengthen airport interdiction, intelligence-led operations and international collaboration to dismantle transnational drug trafficking networks using Nigeria as a corridor.
Marwa added that anyone, regardless of nationality, caught trafficking illicit drugs through Nigerian territory will face the full weight of the law.
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Editor: Ada Ononye
